Amare Chike
Amare Chike, also known as Sortronn-Val, is an extremely powerful Splicer with the ability of Cellular Regeneration. His alter-ego, Sortronn-Val, is known to posses the ability of Temporal Manipulation and Teleportation, although both of these abilities come from the use of the Nephilosphere. Amare is the protagonist of The Providence Cycle, making his first appearance in the prologue in Of Faith and Fortune, the first volume in the series. He is portrayed as a very gifted learner when it comes to the abilities of the Splicers. Under the teaching of Janus Price, Amare learns the secrets of acute Telepathy, allowing him to use the abilities on a small scale, as featured in A Convergence of Fates. Additionally, under the teaching of Abigail Price, he learned acute Clairvoyance. After an unsavory encounter with Prometheus, and after being taken hostage by the Witch Hunters, Amare Chike was forced into suspended animation and sent into deep space by Cassius Barrett, disappearing for twelve years. Twelve years after being sent into deep space, Amare is rescued by Solidarity agents and brought to Phrim-Ku'ul, where he is mentored by Hierarch Ty-vra'an. Ty-vra'an teaches Amare about the history of the WItch Hunters, the Splicers, and the legend of Dokmah, among several types of advanced combat training, as featured heavily in To Dissolve An Empire. ''Amare joins the Solidarity's efforts to fight against the Promethean Empire in a bitter campaign to systematically disassemble the coup that had taken over the International Union of Species. Amare's main goal, however, is to retrieve the Nephilosphere from Prometheus's possession, even if it means letting Prometheus live and letting the Empire survive, and returning the Nephilosphere to the Hierarch's possession. When the Solidarity closes in on Prometheus's greatest stronghold, and face the Witch Hunter himself, Amare focuses on retrieving the artifact, at the cost of the lives of those who rely on him. While Amare Chike succeeds in the mission that Ty-vra'an sent him on, he fails Lionel Brody and the other agents of the Solidarity. The campaign ends when the Promethean Empire descends on Phrim-Ku'ul, which is only defended by a weakened Solidarity, whose recent losses have opened them to attack. Prometheus intends to launch a single, decisive strike on the planet in order to not only take back the Nephilosphere, but to have Amare. From the beginning, it was Prometheus's intention to have the Nephilosphere return to Phrim-Ku'ul, considering it could only be opened in the Citadel. Amare submits to Prometheus, and is taken into the realm of the Nephilosphere itself. Inside the Nephilosphere, Amare and Prometheus travel across the slopes of an ancient mountain, in a simulated reality of First Ground. Atop the peak of the mountain, Amare meets Kama, and Prometheus gambles with Kama, offering to trade Amare for Harmony. Kama agrees, but Amare fights for his life. Amare gains the upper hand and incapacitates Prometheus, breaks his mask, and reveals Prometheus's true identity. Overwhelmed with grief and confusion, Amare attempts to reason with Prometheus rather than kill him, and in a moment of weakness, offers to restore Prometheus's mind, giving him the gift of acute Harmony. Prometheus agrees, and Amare heals him, although Kama is unsatisfied. For Kama's promise of Harmony to be fulfilled, Amare's life must be spent. Thus, Prometheus kills him, betraying Amare one final time. Amare's death, however, is not final. Amare goes through a cycle that is rare to the Splicers known as the Second Bloom, where the Splicer abilities reach another maximum, however briefly. Amare's body restores its own function, allowing Amare to be restored from death. Amare is a drastically changed man in his new life, and chooses to adopt a new persona, that of Sortronn-Val, a Nephili medicine man from Ty-vra'an's stories. When Amare rises to leave the realm of the Nephilosphere, he consults Kama before leaving, swearing a vow to the monster. Amare makes a pact: the zealot Prometheus will be destroyed, in exchange that Amare will have control of the Nephilosphere, even outside the Citadel. Kama agrees to these terms, and returns Amare to the real world, a Hierarch in the eyes of the Vis'yae. Sixteen years after his "death", Amare becomes a mentor to Myra, Bril, and Vihkr, three young Splicers with profound abilities. Under the persona of Sortronn-Val, Amare intends to reserve the element of surprise in order to defeat Prometheus once and for all. Thus, he trains a trio of Splicers to face Prometheus until the final battle comes, and Amare can at last end the endless war of Kama's Curse. In ''To Perpetuate A Vendetta, this is the focus. However, as Sortronn-Val's facade begins to slip, and he becomes blinded with emotion, he allows Prometheus to wedge his way into the hearts of his trio. Vihkr is seduced by the dream of power, and is enlisted into Prometheus's service. In the end, Myra and Bril face their dear ally, and the trio is split, Sortronn-Val with Myra and Bril, and Prometheus with Vihkr. Each group is trained separately, under different schools of thought, and based on different ideals. After the schism, Sotronn-Val continues to search for an answer to end the age-old struggle. In ''The End of An Era'', ''Sortronn-Val meditates on the Nephilosphere and speaks with the echo of Phr'yaes Kiou about his daughter, Mharda'ak Kiou. The Phr'yaes tells him that Val's blade, the one he received with the title of Hierarch, belongs to his daughter, and when the blade is brought into her possession, she will kill Prometheus. Thus, Val searches for this Mharda'ak, in order to fulfill the dream of a dead man. Myra and Bril drift away from Val over time, and toward the end, they go on their own to attempt to reconcile with Vihkr. Prometheus, on the other hand, continues to bring Vihkr closer to darkness. Vihkr becomes Revenant, more machine than man, and fights Prometheus out of lust for power. When he loses to his master, he is cast away, and he becomes a rogue. In the end, Val finds Mharda'ak and brings her the blade, and she fulfills her destiny, ending Prometheus's life. As Prometheus lay dying, Val reveals himself to be Amare. Prometheus expresses deep grief for betraying and killing Amare, and in his final moments, he is weak and emotional. Amare feels a slight sting of remorse as his old friend dies. Mharda'ak then faces Revenant, who returns to see a power vacuum opened, and after a violent struggle, Revenant emerges victorious. Amare, fearful of what he helped create, faces Revenant, and with the assistance of Myra and Bril, defeats him, but spares his life. In the very end, Vihkr returns to the side of the trio, and for a moment, there is an air of peace in the world. The final installment of ''The Providence Cycle occurs a year after the events of The End of An Era. Entitled ''The Providence Cycle, ''the final chapter of Amare's story is the culmination of everything, focusing on the end of the Splicers as a whole. Many years ago, the Splicers were first born from the experiments during the Pjak'lese War, and after a violent struggle between the Intergalactic Union of Species and the Pjak'lese anti-federalists, the Pjak'lese seceded from the Union and formed the Pjak'lese Empire. Since the War, the Pjak'lese lived separate from the Union, and prospered beyond belief. In the final chapter of Amare's story, the Emperor of the Pjak'lese, Cyphus, Category:Characters Category:Main Characters